20th Century Fox Updating Its Name For the New Century

When 20th Century Fox was founded in 1935 (the combination of Fox Films Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures) it's possible that the founders of the company may have joked that their name could become obsolete in sixty five years, but it seems unlikely they were thinking that far ahead. Now -- seventy-eight years later -- the company's name has been changed to reflect the times and updated to 21st Century Fox for everything but the movie side of their business.

Though movies will continue to be released under the 20th Century Fox logo, the rest of the company is to be updated to the 21st Century. Today, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch sent out a memo that read:

After much exploration, and valuable input from our executive team, we’ve chosen the name 21st Century Fox to take us into the future. 21st Century Fox is a name that draws upon the rich creative heritage of Twentieth Century Fox, while also speaking to the innovation and dynamism that must define each of our businesses through the 21st Century. Our new name is inspired by the very first company we acquired nearly thirty years ago as our initial foray into the awe-inspiring world of entertainment.

In some ways it's funny that it took this long for Fox (as it's commonly known) to make this decision. We're thirteen years into the new century, but branding is so important that it's also easy to understand why the film portion of this multi-media empire would want to retain its original name. But when it comes to the movie side of things, as long as they keep the familiar drumroll and fanfare, we'll be happy.